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A review by phantomgecko
Daughter of the Siren Queen by Tricia Levenseller
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Pigheaded emotional stupidity is exhausting to read. I let it slide in the first book because a) YA novel and b) enemies to lovers trope, but there's no excuse for the second book. After the ending of the first, I assumed the romance plot was clinched.
But no. Instead we get extensive inner monologue about how "confusing" and "infuriating" Riden's every action is. Love between them was established in the last book. Alosa acknowledges this mentally even though she doesn't want to think about it. But every time Riden does anything motivated by love, she's suddenly the dumbest person on the planet. Does anyone enjoy reading that over and over and over and over? Why do authors think they do?
Also, there's a lot of abuse from her side, verbal and physical. How many times did she have the though "I want to hit him" ? So yeah, Alosa was raised by a sociopath in a very abusive environment, and it's a miracle she has any morals at all, but like...idk, that already comes through with the gratuitous mentions of how much she loves killing people. Maybe leave it out of what is supposed to be a romantic relationship.
Along those lines, there's a lot of remorseless murder and violent intentions in general. (Again, abusive pirate upbringing and whatever). BUT...it really comes across as a poor attempt at "strong female character."
idk. The first book was fine, not my favorite, but that's just partially because cutesy YA novels aren't my jam anymore. The second book took the things I disliked most about the first and doubled down.
But no. Instead we get extensive inner monologue about how "confusing" and "infuriating" Riden's every action is. Love between them was established in the last book. Alosa acknowledges this mentally even though she doesn't want to think about it. But every time Riden does anything motivated by love, she's suddenly the dumbest person on the planet. Does anyone enjoy reading that over and over and over and over? Why do authors think they do?
Also, there's a lot of abuse from her side, verbal and physical. How many times did she have the though "I want to hit him" ? So yeah, Alosa was raised by a sociopath in a very abusive environment, and it's a miracle she has any morals at all, but like...idk, that already comes through with the gratuitous mentions of how much she loves killing people. Maybe leave it out of what is supposed to be a romantic relationship.
Along those lines, there's a lot of remorseless murder and violent intentions in general. (Again, abusive pirate upbringing and whatever). BUT...it really comes across as a poor attempt at "strong female character."
idk. The first book was fine, not my favorite, but that's just partially because cutesy YA novels aren't my jam anymore. The second book took the things I disliked most about the first and doubled down.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, Death, and Sexual content